Ireland on track to implement EU laws before presidency

IRELAND is keeping to its promise to implement all outstanding EU laws concerning the internal market before the country takes over the presidency of the union next January.

Ireland had been the third worst of the 15 EU member states since April to bring EU decisions into Irish law. It has improved its rating slightly to sixth worst.

However, the Taoiseach, like all the other heads of governments, had promised to have no more than 1.5% of directives not implemented by now but Ireland's figure is more than double that at 3.4%.

The country now has just two directives outstanding for more than two years a big improvement on the five outstanding just six months ago.

The Internal Market Scoreboard keeps track of the number of EU directives designed to encourage business across the union and break down trade barriers.

But as Ireland worked to improve its record most of the other countries slipped even further behind, to the disappointment of Internal Market Commissioner Frits Bolkestein.

He bluntly told the heads of government there was no excuse for failing to meet the deadlines they set.

"This is not good news for Europe's competitiveness. We know how long it takes to get key measures agreed in council and parliament.

"Member states, which then fail to implement them on time, are not only holding back the EU as a whole, they are shooting themselves in the foot," he said yesterday, when the latest figures were released.

He had very harsh words for Italy, pointing out they presently hold the presidency but have the worst record for implementing EU laws in trade. Denmark was the best performer.

"Timely implementation is vital if we are to get the best possible performance from the Internal Market," he warned the member states.